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Saturday, August 3, 2013

Industrial lamp overhaul....

Found the image of the original when it get shipped to me

This is part of the lamp, as you can see it is caked in paint. There is also a long arm with the bulb on it, like a fool i didn't take the overall picture, creative types never good with the practical. This is the clamp part of it and the arm attaches to this, you will see at the end!

So i at first tried the non toxic version, boiling the metal parts to see what would come off....

here is the paint peeling action, riveting stuff i know......

okay so after it cools a little the plan is to scrape off as much as possible, this baby was not having it, the yellow revealed a lovely shade of red. I think you are aware that red is not part of my aesthetic so .....

out come the big guns. Spray on paint stripper. This is supposedly less toxic so i thought i would give it a try....

more supplies, you are essentially going to want to throw everything away the paint stripper touches so rags are needed. Also this stuff burns, not the scary skin blistering horror movie kind, but you still get a rash so i recommend gloves. I also did this in my tiny apartment, in shorts when it was way to warm. Non of this i recommend, space, cool air, even a breeze all would be ideal, but you do what you can.......

so it looks like a big mess, and it is. Simply spray on and let it sit, as the can says for at least 30mins. I left it 2 hrs, any excuse for a coffee break. Then the messy bit really starts. Use those rags to wipe away and scrape off as many laters of paint as possible. You can see below the results of the first round of paint stripper.....

here they are all washed down and scrubbed. Not that impressive. So they got another spray coating of stripper and then washed down again......

wire coat hangers, always keep them around, they are useful for everything. Here is the glamorous shot of me in rubber gloves with a wire hanger getting into the grooves of the head of the lamp......

then comes the wire wool to really clean it up .....

another detail shot, loving the way its looking....

the clamp part gets another good soak, then a scrub down and wire wool......

the end of the light ....

the clamp all stripped, looking good.....

here you get to see it in all its glory. The clamp part attaches to the rod which hold the light, the finish touch is an Edison bulb.